[Jean]

I'm just peeking in to say "good night!"

Maggie -- It was nice to see that you were able to get in again! I don't care for the WW Core Plan and mostly just watch what I eat and count the points. I have found that if I crave something, usually candy or salt, I'm further ahead to have it, count it, and then forget it.

I am off to bed as I have to be at church by 7:30 to practice. Have a super Sunday, Flowers!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[Maggie]

GOOD EVENING MAGNOLIAS

I am just getting ready to shut down my computer for the night and decided to come check to see if I could get here again! I have had 3 days in a row now being OP on my old program and am quite pleased to be back on track. I have some veggie soup in the freezer to zap in the microwave when I feel hungry when out of points and that is a day saver for me.

JEAN I don't care for the Core plan either. I have to stick to a number of points each day to stay in control. I imagine I will have to write what I bite for the rest of my days but that is a small thing to have to do to keep the weight off I do believe. It keeps me focused on what this is all about.

Sleep well my cyber friends and have a wonderful day on the morrow.

[nanacas]

GOOD SUNDAY MORNING MAGNOLIAS

It is a cloudy day and cooler than it has been in my neck of the woods. It certainly seems to be getting more Fall like. The reports say we will be at peak leaf color in about 2 weeks. Would love to take a ride to see the color but since everyone and their brother will be doing the same I think we will not!

FAYE I wish you a much delayed HAPPY BIRTHDAY It sounds like you had a great one. You and T have a wonderful relationship and he will remember all the things you do together when he is grown. That's a good thing!

JEAN You are my long distance weatherwoman. I look at your report of weather in Iowa and know before long we will be having the same! Had to smile at you when you had to say no to watching Maddie. It is difficult to say that to your kids but we have done it when we had something planned or did not feel up to it. You do have to look out for your self. There are days I can take the Gks but then there are others when I know I couldn't survive their energy.

MAGGIE You are one determined woman and I admire your stick-to-it-ness. (Is that a word?) If you follow a program that works for you, don't change it. They say 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'

We were to go to the Cape today with Dh's secretary and her husband but they called yesterday and he had hurt his back at work and couldn't make it.
We have been going to the Cape with them the Sunday of Columbus Day weekend for the last 10 years. Usually we have breakfast at a lovely inn in Sandwich called the Daniel Webster Inn and then follow Route 6A which is a less used route through the cape and stop at some gifty type shops along the way. I had a Lazagna prepared to cook, here, when we got back but now I think I will just cook the whole thing and then divide it into batches and then freeze for later use. I don't like to have so much good food just sitting around, it is too tempting. Frozen I can forget it for a while.

Gloria in Ma....wishing you all a great Sunday.

[Jean]

Good Morning, Flowers!
The sun is shining brightly along with a few 'feathery' clouds in the sky; it's a nice 61° as I type. We've been to church, read the papers, had a second round of coffee, and here I am! I need to go down and finish the laundry but had to change clothes so thought I would stop here to visit first.

One of my stray kittens decided to challenge a squirrel sitting on the squirrel feeder. Needless to say the squirrel didn't take kindly to the attention and went higher in the tree with the kitten right behind him. The kitten finally came down and sat in the grass watching and waiting. The squirrel eventually came back to the feeder but it looked like he was scolding the kitten with his tail switching back and forth.

Maggie -- I was surprised to see you again so soon! Maybe the glitch has moved on to bug someone else. I hope so because we miss you when you can't get in here.

Gloria -- Our weather has been pretty nice lately. It's been a strange August and September so I will be curious to see what winter brings. One of the teachers said the Farmers' Almanac claims we will have more precipitation and colder temperatures than usual. I'm hoping that is WRONG! I guess if we didn't have the weather, life would be kind of dull. I really would have liked to keep Maddy this weekend but as it turned out, she is cutting molars and has a runny nose plus really gross dirty diapers. I think I'm glad I had to play bells today! DH wasn't at all keen on being in charge of her for the time I was unavailable.

Not much is planned for the rest of the day except to pick up and maybe do some ironing to get through the week. I used to be able to get it all done at one time . . . wonder what happened to my organizationl skills?! We are going for a walk later and DH mentioned taking the boat out for one last ride. Somehow a boat ride in October isn't as inviting as it is in May.

I hope you all have an enjoyable Sunday!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[gma22]

Morning flowers!

Pretty quiet here yesterday. We finished up work on our vacation. I hate to just go someplace and take it as it comes so we sat down and organized. We made a list of hotels/sites we wanted to see, restaurants we wanted to try and shows etc we want to go to. We slotted everything according to where it was in Vegas, ie we started at one end, put in what we wanted to see on one day, then picked a restaurant for lunch that was in that area and scratched them off the list, then went to the next day and did the same thing. We haven't done it for specific days, like Monday we do such and such except for nighttime because of concert and show tickets and having to organize dinner in an area close by. It has taken us two weekends to get it all done, but we are ready to get started as soon as we can get reasonable airline tickets, get show tickets bought etc.

I was going to sleep in for a couple hours, but I got up this morning with Jack at 5 am and posted on my thread and saw that Christopher Reeve had died so went down to tell Jack and decided just to stay up. I cleaned the upstairs except for vacuuming, which I will do at a more decent hour for the neighbor's sake (though their partying and music doesn't seem to be as generous to us!)

I better get cracking and finish up (Oh and I think WW's Core plan sounds too much like South Beach or Atkins)

Faye

[nanacas]

Just a quick post.

Faye I envy you your trip to Las Vegas! It is one of my all time favorite places to visit. Just a couple of thoughts. At one point put the Paris Hotel on your places to visit. It is so true to the real thing. A trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower is quite something as you can see all of Vegas as well as the surrounding area. Also if you can get tickets to see Danny Gans who has a theatre at the Mirage Hotel I think you will like him. He has a one man show and he is a singer, dancer, comedian and imitator. We saw him a couple of years ago and had to get tickets 6-8 months ahead as he is always sold out. Also saw Wayne Newton and he was good as well. He is at the Stardust. Have a great time.

Gloria in Ma

[gma22]

Gloria: We were in Vegas in April for our son's wedding and loved it so much we are planning a vacation to go back. I like the Paris hotel a lot too. It is cool. I really like Caesar's Palace. We spent a whole day wandering around in it. As for entertainment, we are going to see Penn and Teller (Jack's choice for magic) the Excalibur Jousting thingy and Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance, which we have never seen. Also if there is a concert I want to see (like Franki Valli, who plays at the hotel we are staying at every few months, but with my like we will miss him!) We say Wayne Newton here in Tunica last year and though I think his voice is shot, he gives the audience one of the best shows I think I have ever seen. We were 4 rows back and it was very touching what he did with the veterans in his show. There are several places we missed last time, ie Luxor, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay etc so we are going to catch all the ones we missed then go back to the ones we visited last time, plus do some shopping. We love the Orleans hotel and that is where we will be staying. We had a spectacular room, very reasonable with a great view and the hotel, though not on the strip, runs a shuttle down to the strip. We are renting a car though this time to go.

Better skeddaddle

Faye

[Jean]

Good Afternoon, Flowers!
It has clouded over this afternoon and rain is on the way supposedly.

My schedule is changing at school again and I am just a bit growly about it. The powers to be are combining three study halls and now I have to take my 4 students and go into another room which means I won't "see" my own desk all afternoon. There will be one teacher, 2 aides, and 12 students. All of the speical ed. and ESL students are being pulled from regular study halls so they can have individual help for all 8 of their study halls, instead of just 3 or 5. Another aide has been hired to take over the study halls of the teacher who resigned and the special ed. director decided we should all be one big happy study hall group. The aide is from Mexico so speaks Spanish, which is good. I hope that it will be better than I am anticipating. I refuse to drag teachers' manuals and student work with me all afternoon so it could prove to be a long afternoon. On that note, I am glad Monday is over and done with.

"Gma" -- Since I have never been to Vegas, I think you are really smart to organize where you want to go, what you want to see, etc. When are you going? Wish we could go along with you since you kind of know the ropes!

Gloria -- Nice to see you peek in!

Tomorrow I'm getting a much needed haircut and perm after school. I will miss WW but it is the only day this week I could get in.

DH is farming so I won't see him until the elevators close or it rains, which ever comes first.

I hope you all have had a good day. Enjoy this evening and have a terrific Tuesday!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[Maggie]

HELLO MAGNONIALS

Just got back from doing some shopping and getting our hair cut. I love this style that I wore when I was a teen ~ short - short - short and wash and wear. I always wore it this way when I was a teen because of the swimming classes I took at school. Though the years I wore it long because it has natural curl in it and had it layered and it was easy to care for then as I got older I did "up do's" and now ~ regressed back to short. Works for me. I am getting though this 5th day of my program which is an 18 point day. Since we were in town at lunchtime we went to Subway where I got a nice filling OP wrap. LIFE IS GOOD I still have a few points left for a nice nutritious dinner. No room for any junk food this day.

JEAN change is sometimes good so I hope the changes that are going on at your work place are good.

FAYE we don't gamble but when we travel and go by Vegas it is a beautiful sight from the mountins to see all those lights. We did stay in a campground near there and visited a great Chinese food place that the locals frequent and had a tremendous meal. In fact we did stay a couple days longer than planned because of a terrific wind storm that sand blasted anything in it's way and made it impossible for travel trailers to be on the road. Have fun on your vacation and I know it will be more enjoyable since you have taken the time to plan your daily excursions.

GLORIA I am sorry to hear that you missed your yearly jaunt to the Cape. You had such a lovely time last year I remember. Hope the gentleman gets back to exact soon.

Have a lovely rest of Monday folks.

[Maggie]

GOOD MORNING MAGNOLIAS

It's my today and a friend is taking us out for lunch. Chinese food. I have 25 points and haven't yet tapped into those 13 that I have as floaters kinda like the flex points WW uses. If I dont use the 13 my weekly average per day would be 23 but using them it brings my average to 25. I have now strung 5 days in a row sticking right on the line. Jean your birthday is tomorrow isn't it and Cindy's is the 14th. The administer at the Sheriff's department has this day as her birthday and so does her sister who is 5 years older than her. Now that is strange for sure. I love birthdays.

Have a wonderful 12th day of Roctober folks. Type at you later.

[Jean]

Good Evening, Flowers!
I'm waiting for DH to get home from the farm so will chat with you for a bit.

I got my perm after school . . . same old story in that she cut it too short and the curl will probably be too tight. I think we get to visiting and she gets carried away and then has to even the rest of it to match. It's a good thing it will grow out!

Maggie -- I was hoping to get in here before you did so I could wish you a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope you have had a special day and enjoyed yourself in every way possible. Your birthday lunch sounds yummy!

Not much newsy from my corner of the world tonight. It has gotten colder and we are supposed to get some rain tonight. There is a wind advisory for tomorrow which doesn't thrill me. DH is hoping our leaves will blow away! We have alot left to fall.

Have a relaxing evening and a wonderful Wednesday tomorrow!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[Maggie]

GOOD EVENING MAGNOLIAS

The day was great. Several showed up to enjoy Chinese food with us and then we all went over to a house where there was a Chocolate cake for me. It had a moouse filling and baby chocolate chips on it and it was loaded with points so I was able to sneek over half of my piece onto Cowboys plate. It was lots of fun. On my new box of Reduced Fat Bisquick there are some good looking recipes and not too points spendy. I checked out the web site and there are some recipes there that look like they are worth a try. I put the ingredients in my Master Cook program and am able to find out how many points they are.

JEAN By now you should expect your perms to be tighter and your hair shorter when you get a perm if you go back to the same person. But you are right ~ it will grow back. And evidently it is all worth it since you do keep going back. It will look fine. It is really looking like fall around here. Some of the trees are beautiful in their red and orange leaves.

Everyone have a lovely evening ~ I'll be typing at you later.

[gma22]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAGGIE!

Jean: We are not going until late August, but it takes a lot of money and planning so we always start early. Maggie mentioned the gambling, but in truth unless you are a BIG gambler, that is probably the least exciting thing to do there! For us, we have the casinos 40 miles from here if we want to do that. There is just so much to see and do in one place. We just really loved it when we wer there in April. We now have a new digital camera (our combined bd and anniversary presents to each other) that does lots of new things so we are excited to start using it.

Maggie: I love Chinese food, but it is highly fattening, especially what I like and Jack hates it so I don't subject him to it too often! Hope you had a grand birthday and got great presents!

I need to get going and get out and walk. They are calling for rain again today and I want to get out before it comes down again. We haven't had much rain in 2 months and now it has rained everyday for like 5 days. UGH! Keeps you in a bad mood!

Faye

[GailR]

Happy Birthday, Maggie--I'm sorry I didn't get in here yesterday to wish you a happy birthday ON your birthday! Sounds like you had a nice one! Good for you for staying OP on your birthday!

Hi Jean! ...and to the rest of the magnolias who may not remember me or even know me!

[Maggie]

GOOD MORNING MAGNOLIAS

It is another lovely sunny day here and the trees that do are changing into bright patches of red and orange in the forest. We have one in this yard that is screaming red. I absolutely love this time of the year. We are going in a bit to town. I am going to order myself another pair of SAS shoes and Cowboy is going to get his favorite deck shoes sewn. Fun stuff like that. We will probably stop at the grocerie store to pick up some articles that we can't get here in this small burg. Thank you all for your birthday wishes. The day was fun and filled with friends and good wishes. I love birthdays. I am so pleased that I could have an OP day of it. This is the last day of this week and it will be OP also. I am on a roll.

FAYE I think it is so neat that you plan your vacations ahead. It makes it go so much nicer when plans are laid. We don't go out for Chinese food either ~ I do make fat free stir fry here and some other dishes which I cut out the fat so that isn't so bad. Some of their stuff eating out can be a killer. Please, O please send some rain this way. It hasn't rained since April 17th and the trees could use a good washing. Keep dry during your walk.

GAIL How nice of you to stop in! Thanks my friend. Come back sometime and stay awhile. Hope all is going well with you and yours.

JEAN Happy Birthday to you! hope your day goes well with you and you get your wishes fulfilled.

Type at ya'all later.